Change the Climate 2020

LCV Statement on CNN’s Presidential Climate Town Hall

Sep 4, 2019

David Willett, dwillett@lcv.org, 202-454-4598

Washington, D.C. — In anticipation of the CNN presidential town hall on the climate crisis tonight, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has updated our Change The Climate 2020 campaign site to provide press and the public with detailed tracking of all of the candidates’ statements and positions on climate in a number of ways, including a chart detailing how all the candidates have responded to the top questions we have asked them all to answer. Additionally, LCV released the following statement from SVP of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld:

“For the first time ever, tonight’s town hall presents a historic opportunity for voters to hear how exactly 10 Democratic presidential candidates plan to address, in an in-depth way, the greatest challenge of our generation. In the lead-up to this event, we’ve seen a welcome flurry of new climate plans released. CNN deserves credit for giving the crisis the primetime platform it warrants, and we commend all ten presidential candidates who qualified for agreeing to discuss  the specifics of their climate.

“The next president must be committed to ambitious and immediate action on climate that builds a more just and sustainable society. Our future literally depends on it. Specifically, we hope tonight’s conversations will address:

  • How each candidate is making climate a very top priority.
  • When and how they intend to move the U.S. to 100% clean energy and net-zero climate pollution
  • How they will pursue the most just, equitable economic transition to a clean energy economy
  • How they would exercise strong global leadership on climate
  • What they would do to strengthen and enforce protections for our air and water
  • How they will advance a fair and equitable infrastructure agenda
  • If they have pledged to reject all contributions over $200 from the PACs, lobbyists or SEC-named executives of the fossil fuel industry.
  • What is their personal connection and motivation for tackling this crisis.

“We will be watching for serious and substantive conversations tonight about how the candidates will prioritize climate action starting on day one as president and throughout their time in office.”

 

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For rapid response this evening, you can follow @lcvoters and @T_Sittenfeld